Silence Between Sheets
by photographiegrise
Summary: Rated for later chapters. When no words are exchanged, pain is replaced with a sense of loss. Snape is cruel, and Hermione is uncomfortable as she begins to wonder how cruel he is prepared to be. Noncompliant with HBP and DH.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own much of this.

A/N: There is slight HGHP in this, but I promise it's not a major part of the story so if you don't like it then please read on anyway. I don't ship them, I'm just using it to get the ball rolling. First fic!

**Chapter 1**

Hermione woke up to yet another day at Hogwarts, the first day of her last week. She sat up to see Ginny, staring blankly out of the window. Hermione knew what was troubling her. Over the summer, whilst members of the Order resided at Grimmauld Place, Draco Malfoy would be back with his father and the world of dark magic and Death Eaters, complete with all the dangers that accompany such society. Ginny loved Draco. They had begun their unlikely relationship within the last few weeks, although only those closest to the couple were aware of it, and in honesty, Hermione was happy for them. She never thought she would see such sincerity in Malfoy, nor happiness in Ginny since she had learned to lose hope of a relationship with Harry.

Hermione herself had now begun to be close with Harry. Subtleties and stolen glances, occasionally catching each others eyes and looking away with a blush, cherished touches as they brushed past eachother in the corridors. Nothing had happened yet, but Hermione noticed how often her attentions would turn to him, felt the silent warmth when they exchanged looks.

Her footsteps echoed louder against the cold stone floor as her path descended into the dungeons, approaching this morning's potions lesson. She saw Harry waiting for her around the corner, and smiled at him in appreciation. They entered the room, and Hermione could vaguely make out the edge of Snape's figure looming in the shadows. They sat down and he emerged.

"As this will be your final full lesson this year, I thought it only appropiate that I mark the occasion with something..._special._" He smirked to himself. "Let's see what you make of this."

He waved his wand and on the board appeared a long list of ingredients and instructions. Hermione frowned. She recognised instantly, the 'Draught of Peace', and she knew that Snape would not have realistically expected any of the students to succesfully complete the potion.

"Bastard", she said under her breath. She could have sword she heard a discrete sneer from Snape's direction. She looked over to Harry, who was already looking at her with an expression of bewilderment, as he motioned his head towards the instructions on the board and mouthed the words "Help me". Hermione could not help but smile discreetly. She moved her equipment a little closer to him, and together they began to make their potions, as Snape prowled the room.

"Time up!"

It was little more than ten minutes before the end of the double lesson, and Hermione knew that, as she was nowhere near finished brewing, nobody else could have completed Snape's instructions. He had set a seriously unrealistic target if he expected anyone to have finished. Still, after a quick observation of each student's work, he swept to the front of the smoky dungeon room and spoke to the class in little more than a whisper:

"This is...pathetic." Malice danced in his eyes, as he turned to Hermione. "Even you, Miss "Know-it-all" Granger. You've disappointed me, and that _is_ saying something as my expectations were so low already."

Hermione stared back at him with a look of total disbelief, she did not know how to reply, or whether he was even being serious or not.

"Clearly you acknowledge your own failure as well. I think that will be...50 points from Gryffindor for undisguised laziness in my class, and another 30 for assisting Potter." He sneered satisfactorily.

"Professor! I..are you serious? None of us could have finished that by the end of this lesson! You must know how complex it is!"

"Are you _arguing _with me Miss Granger. Because if you are, I highly recommend that you do not continue."

"Of course I'm arguing, you foul git! It's the end of the year, everyone has improved so much..even helping Harry it was obvious that he needed little more than a boost in confidence! And then you set us an obviously unreachable target and sneer at our efforts at the end of it! What the hell do you get off on? Any of us would be a better teacher than you!"

Hermione staggered backwards at the force of her own words, falling into her chair that she only then realised she had left. She had been standing face to face with Snape. Fear suddenly filled her stomach like lead, and she looked back up at the Professor. The room was silent. He took a step forward to the edge of Hermione's desk, and leant down so far that their faces were nearly touching. Hermione did not move, and could look nowhere else but at his thin face, which was almost radiating cool hatred. He spoke so quietly that even Hermione's instinct was to move closer to hear, countered only by the fact that if she moved any closer she would touch him. She could feel his breath.

"8 o'clock. My office. Tonight."

Hermione shivered internally, before he stood back up to address the rest of the class.

"Dismissed."

As Hermione packed to leave with the rest of the class, she could feel the heat of Snape's gaze on her. She looked at Harry and he gave her a bracing grin, making her feel a little more at ease, as she stood to leave she looked up and met Snape's cold and ungiving gaze, and quickly turned away to walk out with Harry. As they left, Harry's hand took hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

She stole a quick glance back into the room before they exited the room entirely. Snape was still watching her.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own much of this.

Hermione was up in her dormitory, completing her History of Magic notes, whilst keeping an eye on the time as she knew she couldn't afford to be late to this detention. Her _first_ detention. And to think she had ever stood up for that man, encouraged Ron and Harry to show some respect for him, despite his obvious disrespect for others. She didn't understand him. She didn't understand how his prejudices could run so deep, and couldn't understand how anyone could fail to acknowledge her intelligence as he so effortlessly did.

It was quarter to 8. Hermione slipped on her robes over her clothes and made her way down to the dungeons, the air becoming distinctly colder the further down she travelled. As she reached Snape's office, her fingers were ice cold and numb. She made a feeble knock on the door. Immediately it opened, and Snape's looming figure stood before her. Hermione sighed a little, this was ridiculous. If she wasn't here she would only be in Gryffindor Tower right now doing homework for the man she was facing right now.

"Come in."

Hermione paused a second for him to move back and allow her in, but he did no such thing. She looked up at his face but saw only a blank expression, so she took it upon herself to continue. She sucked in her body as she squeezed past him, but contact was inevitable and she wondered as to why he wouldn't move for her. When she was in he closed the door behind her, but did not yet turn around.

"Well well, Miss Granger. It's about time that you learnt a lesson for failing to keep your insufferable mouth closed." He cast a locking charm on the door, and moved over to Hermione, placing his hand up under her chin and parted her lips slightly with his thumb, his eyes examining her face. This was all done in one swift movement and before Hermione had time to realise what was happening, he spoke again, and Hermione's eyes widened in confusion.

He ran his thumb along her lower lip. "A tempting little mouth though it is."

Hermione still made no move, just stood with her eyes locked on his, mesmerised in her shock. This was wrong! All wrong! What did he mean by that? Suddenly she snapped out of the fixation and jumped back, desperate to distance herself from him, but as she did he took a calm step forwards towards her, and they were now even closer than they were before. Hermione could see her breath, white and crisp against the black robes covering his chest, in the cold dungeon rooom. Snape's face was suddenly but an inch from hers and she turned her head to the side, anxious not to let him see what she was feeling, that she was scared of him. She felt a firm hand at her side, slowly moving up towards her breast, where his thumb caressed it gently and his head moved down towards her neck as if to kiss it, but the contact never came. After a long moment, the hand then travelled back down to her side, where it stopped. Hermione winced as she felt Snape hiss into her ear.

"Not so clever now, Miss Granger? Nothing to say on this subject? For all your quoting of books and opinions, I'll bet you still don't know what it feels like to be touched. You can play eye-tricks with Potter and keep Weasley at your heels, but it's never _led_ anywhere has it? No one actually wants to _touch _you. And in the end no book will cure that ache between your legs."

His hand moved lower, and despite the layers of clothing she gasped slightly as his fingers moved over her most sensitive spot. This was, apparently, all the reaction Snape needed. He removed his hand from her body and sneered down at her in disgust, before moving back to the door, unlocking it and gesturing her out of the room. "That will be all for tonight Miss Granger."

Hermione looked at him, and then the door, and then back at him, in disbelief.

"But-"

Snaped interrupted her with a stern look. After another pause, she fled the room, trembling as she ran, and did not stop running until she was back in her dormitory. Silently she climbed into bed without even removing her robes, and curled up tight in a ball, her eyes screwed shut. A tear trickled down her cheek. She did not sleep that night for replaying the evening's events over and over in her head.


End file.
